Dozens of federally funded studies focused on LGBTQ+ health have been abruptly cancelled following President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and banning so-called “gender ideology” from the federal government.
According to a report by the Associated Press, at least 68 research grants across 46 institutions were terminated last week alone, many of which were previously awarded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The cuts have halted long-term studies and impacted nearly $40 million in funding, much of which had already been spent.
The sweeping cancellations appear to be part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to root out what it deems “ideologically driven science.” Recipients of the terminated grants received identical notices stating that:
“Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans.”
Whitney L. Wharton, an Atlanta-based researcher whose work focused on transgender communities, called the move unprecedented. “NIH is going back on their contractual obligations to us. I have never heard of this before, and I’ve been around for a second,” she told Roll Call. “It’s literally a 180. There was no warning, other than the writing on the wall, politically.”
The cancellations follow the January dismantling of the NIH’s Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office, founded in 2015 to coordinate LGBTQ+-related health research across the agency’s 27 institutes. The office was among the first targets of Trump’s anti-DEI executive actions.
Associate Professor Tara McKay of Vanderbilt University, whose grant to study the impact of social networks on LGBTQ+ health disparities was cut, said colleagues are bracing for similar messages. “Everyone I know and work with is expecting this letter to come to their inbox.”
“Our study tries to provide new information and take a deeper dive on what’s driving well-documented disparities,” McKay explained. “You need to understand the mechanisms to develop effective interventions. Not having this information is a major loss to the field.”
Jace Flatt, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, also saw three grants cancelled, including one funded by the Department of Defense. The work, which involved transgender participants, will continue with or without federal funding, Flatt said.
“It absolutely will create a huge gap in the knowledge we will have,” they noted.
The move comes amid wider concerns that the NIH—renowned for its pivotal work on the Human Genome Project and mRNA vaccine development—faces ongoing threats from Trump’s administration and controversial Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Researchers say the cancellation of these grants not only undermines the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ communities but also erodes progress made over the last decade in understanding health disparities and developing inclusive interventions.
